The affordances and pedagogical benefits of technology in the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classrooms are widely acknowledged. One potential use of technology is in eliciting and managing students' responses, which is an area where EAP/ESP teachers often report difficulties. Traditionally, teachers…

This review evaluates two recent anthologies that survey research at the intersection of cognitive psychological investigations of (working) memory and issues in second language (L2), and bilingual processing and acquisition. The volumes cover similar ground by outlining the theoretical underpinnings of models of (working) memory as well as…

In this article, the reviewers, Lee-Tat Chow and Peidong Yang compare and contrast "Desiring TESOL and international education," by Raqib Chowdhury and Phan Le-Ha, London, Multilingual Matters, 2014, 288 pp., £29.95 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-783-09147-8 with "Transnational education crossing 'Asia' and 'the West'," by Phan LeHa,…

Paul Jablon's "The Synergy of Inquiry" (2014) is well-timed. The 2014 deadline set by No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2002) for universal student proficiency has come and gone, and according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, "proficiency rates last year were below 50 percent for nearly every racial and ethnic group, in…

In this essay, we review and comment on three books that focus on language, literacy, and visual and cultural communication: "English as a Local Language: Post-Colonial Identities and Multilingual Practices" by Christina Higgins; "Literacy and Power" by Hilary Janks; and "South African Visual Culture," edited by…

Two recent books provide varied resources for exploring ethical issues in the social sciences. Reflection on ethical issues aims to sensitize scholars to a range of consequences of their research, and to scholars' responsibilities to their discipline, their colleagues, and the public. This review article assesses the utility of these texts (and of…

Reviews three books on the acquisition of Japanese as a second language: "Second Language Acquisition Process in the Classroom" by A.S. Ohta;"The Acquisition of Grammar by Learners of Japanese" (English translation of title), by H. Noda, K. Sakoda, K. Shibuya, and N. Kobayashi; and "The Acquisition of Japanese as a Second Language," B. K. Kanno,…

Maintains that Tabors' edited work is the most comprehensive and practical book on the topic available and an essential part of the knowledge base for early care and education professionals. Highlights the book's practical suggestions, concrete examples to illustrate language principles, and recommendations for teachers. Asserts that the content…

Classroom second language instruction can be characterized as one of the following: focus-on-formS, focus-on-meaning, or focus-on-form. The book titled "Focus on Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition" (Doughty & Williams, 1998) argues for the desirability of focus-on-form over focus-on-formS and focus-on-meaning, discussing the efficacy…

Reviews four recent books of current research in vocabulary acquisition: "Exploring the Second Language Mental Lexicon," (D. Singleton); "Assessing Vocabulary," (J. Read); "Vocabulary in Language Teaching" (N. Schmitt); "Learning Vocabulary in Another Language" (L.S.P. Nation). (Author/VWL)

Reviews Tesar and Smolensky's, "Learnability in Optimality Theory" (2000). Discusses the main tenets of the book as well as the different topics included in each chapter. (Author/VWL)

Recommends books in Spanish that can be used both with Spanish-speaking students and with students who are learning Spanish. Several publications offered were originally published in Europe and exist in the United States only as Spanish-language editions. (GR)

Reviews two guides on the Child Language Data Exchange (CHILDES) project, both of which provide tools for analyzing talk. (Author/VWL)

Discusses changes observed from the foreign language and literature deportment chair over the last decade that pose the greatest opportunity and risk for department leaders in the first decade of the new millennium. (Author/VWL)

Critiques Smith and Tsimpli's (1995) book, "The Mind of the Savant," in which a single case study is used as evidence for the modularity of language. Smith and Tsimpli respond to comments by Bates. (Author/VWL)